Pride of Detroit
One of the best qualities in a strong leader is the ability to recognize when you’ve made a mistake. Self-assessment is important in any line of work in order to learn and grow.
For Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, the postseason failure of the 2024 season is not something he is going to let go to waste. And after some self-reflection, he admits he may have made a miscalculation when directing the focus of the team. In a really good interview with WXYZ’s Brad Galli, Campbell admits his hyperfocus on earning the No. 1 seed may have actually turned out to be a mistake.
“One of the things, when I look back (to last year), I think the emphasis needs to stay on winning the division and playing a hell of a lot better Week 17 than you do in Week 1,” Campbell said. “If we’ll just focus on that, no matter whether it is at home or it’s on the road or whatever, then we’ll be battle-tested and ready to go.
“There was a little part of me last year, I’m like, Man, did I put such an emphasis on the one-seed, playing at home, all these things that it was almost like—the set of circumstances, we had a bunch of injuries—that it was like [sigh]. We took a deep breath. And then it was like, ‘Oh man, we reached one of those goals,’ but the ultimate goal is the Super Bowl.”
It’s an interesting implication—that the Lions may have taken too much of a deep breath, taken too much solace in winning the NFC’s top seed, that they weren’t locked in for the Divisional Round game against the Washington Commanders. From the outside looking in, it certainly seems like Campbell is being overly critical of himself. The team was going through several issues out of his control, mainly that his defense had been depleted by injury.
Still, Campbell wonders if he had delivered a different message to the team, would the outcome have been different?
“So I just, in my own head, did I set us up for failure by the way that I spoke about it?” Campbell said. “I think about little things like that. Whereas, you know what? We didn’t lose on the road last year. What if we had gone on the road?”
The message has been noticeably different this year. Instead of a focus on all roads leading through Detroit, the team is more focused on improving and winning wherever and however they need to each and every week.
“We’ll play at home, we’ll play on the road, we’ll play in the elements, we’ll play in the grass, turf. It doesn’t matter, the wind,” Campbell said. “Every game is different. You find a way to win.”
